


Built on Hope

by rcmsw



Series: Rebelcaptain Appreciation Week [3]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Fix-It, Some Fluff, The only type of Rogue One fic I write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 10:16:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10637805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rcmsw/pseuds/rcmsw
Summary: Jyn Erso had given up on hope. Until Cassian Andor said the words, leaning in close, his voice full of conviction, drawing her in.For Rebelcaptain Appreciation Week day 6 - hope.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I apparently took this prompt a little too literally and it somehow turned into how many times can I possibly say hope in one fic. Spoiler: the limit does not exist. 
> 
> For anyone interested, I'm on tumblr as [rebsrising](https://rebsrising.tumblr.com/)

Jyn had almost laughed at him when he first used the word.

  
She had never expected Captain Cassian Andor, with his calculated actions and controlled exterior, to believe in something like hope.

  
“Rebellions are built on hope,” he had told her.

  
Hope hadn’t been a part of her life for years. It was a child’s dream. A child hoped her and her parents would always be together, a child hoped her mother would stand up after a blaster wound, a child hoped Saw would come back for her in that bunker the way he had the first time, a child hoped her father was alive, and yet his integrity somehow still intact.

  
Jyn Erso had given up on hope. Until Cassian Andor said the words, leaning in close, his voice full of conviction, drawing her in. She soon came to believe him. His own actions, and those of her friends from Jedha, the chance her father’s message gave them, it all led her to hope. Led her to use his own words, feeling them ring true as she spoke them to the council.

  
“Rebellions are built on hope,” she had told them.

  
From that moment on, she couldn’t stop hoping.

  
She hoped the council would believe her, would chose to act. Hoped she’d find the strength, the means to act alone if necessary.

  
She hoped Rogue One would make it to Scarif, that Bodhi would get them through the gate. Hoped they’d make it into the base, find the plans, manage to send them. Hoped someone was listening.

  
When the time came, when the chances were spent, she felt the peace she had hoped for. There was still so much more that could be done, so much more she could be, with the rebellion, with Rogue One, with Cassian. But she accepted the end, with him by her side.

  
And just when she had given up hope, with conviction instead of bitterness, it came for her once again. This time in the form of a twice-stolen Imperial cargo ship, the pilot, their pilot, frantically waving them aboard.

\-----

Mon Mothma comes to her in the med bay the next day, the white of her robes matching the crispness of the room around her. Jyn was released by medics shortly after arriving back on Yavin IV, but she’s spent all her time since then by Cassian’s bedside. His injuries were far worse than her own, but he’s recovering well.

  
Mothma is graceful and reserved as usual, except for a hint of a smile pulling at her mouth. She’s pleased. Jyn assumes this means she’s not about to be courtmartialed for stealing a ship and disobeying council orders. Cassian asks as much.

  
“The mission has been...retroactively approved by the council,” Mothma says tactfully.

  
Jyn snorts at that, but Cassian seems genuinely relieved.

  
“All efforts are now focused on finding Princess Leia and the plans,” Mothma says. “We have every reason to believe that both will be retrieved and the mission will remain a success.”

  
Jyn’s heart had sunk when she first learned the fate of the plans they’d sent, but she can’t help but believe Mothma’s words now. The fight isn’t over yet, she’s confident of that.

  
“We’re grateful for what Rogue One has done for the rebellion and we won’t forget the sacrifices that were made, Sergeant Erso,” Mothma says.

  
“Sergeant?” Jyn asks, brows lifting.

  
Cassian looks to her then. He’s attempting to keep his face neutral, but Jyn can see the light in his eyes, the hope.

  
“I hope you’ll join us officially now,” Mothma tells her.

  
And Jyn does.

 

 

 

She takes up the cause again, fights where they need her most. She makes her home first on Yavin IV, then on Hoth, always with the rebellion, always with Cassian. 

A soldier once more, she works to rein her newfound hope in, be realistic, but she will never again fully abandon it. Jyn knows the rebellion is a cause worth dying for, knows she and her friends will likely not all make it out alive. She feels the weight of that possibility, the reality of war. So she keeps the hope small, tangible.

  
She hopes to complete her mission, whatever the cost. Hopes they will all make it home just one more time, hopes to have just one more day with Cassian and her family. She hopes for a lucky break in their schedules, a day when she can be with all of them, a night when she can be with just Cassian.

  
It’s during one of these rare moments, when they’re all on base eating a meal in the caf, catching up on each other’s missions and laughing together, that Bodhi asks the question.

  
“What will it look like?” he says, eyes wide with curiosity, “When we win.”

  
_When._ For all his self-doubt, Bodhi has unwavering faith in the rebellion.

  
Cassian answers, his face brightening as he talks about democracy, peace, freedom. Jyn stares up at him, once again pulled in by the conviction in his voice. Cassian turns to her and slips his hand in hers on the table. Bodhi looks between the two of them, at their interlocked hands, the laughter lingering on their faces, and grins.

  
“I hope it looks like this,” he says.

  
He’s pulled away by Luke Skywalker then, his smile growing alongside a blush on his cheeks as the two head toward the hangar.  
Jyn and Cassian are silent for a moment, both struck by his words.

  
“Do you think we’ll see it?” she asks Cassian, looking up to read his face.

  
His forehead creases, brows pulling together. This is strange territory for him too. Cassian had always had hope for the rebellion’s final victory, but not for his place after it. His eyes meet hers though, and his face softens.

  
“I hope so,” he tells her.

  
And she does too.

 

  
Her hopes grow grander after that.

She hopes to one day see the sun rise on a galaxy at peace. Hopes to see the Alliance rise in place of the empire. Hopes to see Cassian’s face unlined by the wear of war, Bodhi in something other than a flight suit, Chirrut and Baze as guardians once again. She hopes to discover who she is outside of a soldier. She hopes to wake beside Cassian, from a sleep free from nightmares for both of them, in their home. Hopes to see his scars fade as she feels her own wounds heal with time. She hopes to create a family with him, in whatever way that means to them.

  
In the end, they build their life together on hope.


End file.
